Dorice Damas Advances Public Health Research in Tanzania
With support from the GEMINI Scholarship, she completed a Master’s in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Written by Leticia Murase and Ashley Phillips. Reviewed by Catherine Staton.
The GEMINI Scholarship Program provides financial support for emerging researchers for global health. By funding individuals and broader efforts, the program helps strengthen healthcare systems in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), advancing progress and improving public health outcomes.
Dr. Dorice A. Damas, the first GEMINI Scholarship recipient, recently completed her Master’s in Epidemiology and Applied Biostatistics at KCMC University in Tanzania.
Dorice trained as a medical doctor and grew up in Tanzania. During her internship, she saw many preventable cases and began to question the limits of clinical care. She realized that some problems required a broader, systems-level perspective. Her interest in public health started during medical school, when she volunteered as a research assistant at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI). That early experience sparked a curiosity about how data and research could answer questions that clinical work alone could not.
KCMC University stood out as the right place to deepen that interest, offering a program focused on applied research. “The program isn’t just theory, you actually learn how to design studies, analyse data, and translate findings into practice”, Dorice said. But funding her degree was uncertain. “I was really struggling to figure out how to finance the degree”, she recalled. Encouraged by a mentor and friend, she reached out to GEMINI. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure anything would come out of it, but I decided to try”.
Through the program, Dorice found herself challenged and supported. She described how practical the training was, involving real datasets, presentations, and peer discussions that pushed her to think critically and defend her decisions. One key moment came during her field attachment, where she realized how much more there was to learn. “I went into the program thinking I was pretty good, but reality humbled me”, she said. “Instead of feeling discouraged, it pushed me to learn more. By the end of it, I could run analyses confidently and actually interpret the results in a meaningful way.”
Now that she has completed her degree, Dorice plans to work in research and programs that use data to improve health. She hopes to publish her thesis findings and contribute to evidence-based decision-making in the country. “I want to be part of efforts that make evidence-based decisions the norm in Tanzania so that data isn’t just collected, but actually used to save lives”.
The GEMINI Scholarship supported Dorice’s training, giving her the space and stability to grow as a researcher and advance her work in public health.
Your support can help train the next GEMINI scholar. 100% of your donation goes directly to tuition, housing, and food costs during their training. Help us support more researchers like Dorice by donating here.